


find me unafraid

by matchaball



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, character piece, disaster relief zine, heroism counts even in the smallest of ways, up to the test
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-09 16:15:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13485174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matchaball/pseuds/matchaball
Summary: Alya has a system for following up on akuma victims in the aftermath. Because some battles aren’t over, even when all the fighting has stopped.Written for the charity zine,Up to the Test!





	find me unafraid

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the !!ongoing!! **[Up to the Test Zine](https://ml-disaster-relief-zine.tumblr.com/)** , organized on tumblr by the heroic [littleblackchat](http://littleblackchat.tumblr.com/) and [hchano](http://hchano.tumblr.com/)! Go check the link out and help provide international disaster relief!

The phone in Alya’s hand lights the way as she races down the street towards the site of the latest akuma attack. In the distance, she sees Ladybug leap up and crest over the crown of the buildings like a beacon, and she redoubles her pace.

Her feet pound against the pavement as she flies, her steps conversing with the concrete on what she will report, what she will say. Her backpack, a new addition, thumps between her shoulder blades. The contents inside weigh her down but she carries the burden gladly.

It, like her phone, is a necessity.

She runs into a maze of spectators and reporters and doesn't miss a beat as she ducks and slides and weaves her way through to the front, phone at the ready, always. The spectacle that greets her at the front lines is much as she expects: breathtaking acrobatics from Ladybug and daring close calls from Chat.  

Alya’s phone eagerly tracks the flashy superhero action, but her eyes follow the akuma’s face as he screams his frustrations. She finds that strange feral drive in his eyes as he single-mindedly hones in on Ladybug and Chat. It twists his expression into something inhuman, something decidedly other: the telltale signs of someone else pulling the strings behind the scenes.

He looks young. Young enough to be around her sisters’ ages.

Her phone jerks as he lands hard on the ground, pinned down by Chat. He won’t recall any of this, Alya knows, but the body remembers. Her own fingers tighten around her phone as the impulse to swipe the pause button up onto Chat bubbles up, remnants of her own experience.

There are some things even Ladybug’s miraculous cure can’t heal.

The crowd cheers as Ladybug swings down and reaches for the doll the akuma dropped. Her fingertips just graze the toy before jerking to a stop as the akuma lets out a blood-curdling cry. He thrashes like a wild animal, limbs flailing, and throws Chat off before arrowing in on the doll. Ladybug is swiped to the side in his haste, no longer the goal but just another obstacle.

He pays for that decision. The butterfly outline flares around his young face like a brand, and he clutches his head in pain.

Desperation jerks him around, makes his head swing frantically as he tries to find anything to relieve him of Hawkmoth’s pressure. The crowd draws back in fear, in repulsion, in horror as his eyes land on them.

Alya remains, unflinching. She looks back into his eyes- and there, beyond the power, beyond the control, she recognizes the helplessness and the fear within. For a moment, it feels like staring into a mirror.

Chat yells, and the connection breaks. The akuma whirls around, snarling, his doll swinging from his hand, before launching himself into battle once more. Ladybug catches Alya’s eye somewhere in the chaos, a question embedded in that captured moment. They both know the answer, but Alya nods anyway.

Gratefulness softens Ladybug’s eyes before determination burns them electric again. Her yoyo slings out as she redoubles her efforts in freeing the little boy.

Alya waits, and she witnesses.

 

* * *

 

Each time Ladybug and Chat Noir shows up to save the day, Alya doesn't even think. Something instinctively calls to her and she comes, her phone aglow and her feet given wings. 

Sometimes she catches up with them, and sometimes she doesn’t, but that’s never the _point_.

Truthfully, she’s never really thought about why. But she knows a good story when she sees one, and she knows the sight of Ladybug and Chat showing up to save the day is powerful enough to save people. They are a part of something greater, something spectacular, and she trails after the light that lingers after them like the tails of shooting stars. 

(Maybe she hopes, one day, she can do extraordinary things too.)

So Alya joins the few brave (reckless) reporters that dare to come as close as they can to capture every bit of news. The danger is worth seeing Ladybug and Chat in action up close and personal, and the reward comes in the aftermath, when Ladybug steps up to their cameras, and smiles.

A thousand and one questions burn in Alya- who is she, where is she from, how does she do this? But the one that pushes to the forefront of Alya’s mind is not one she expects. Curiosity turns her head, makes her search beyond the vivid figure of Ladybug until she sees Chat, crouching down and talking to someone hidden from her sight by the wings of the ambulance doors.

Ladybug is right there, close enough to touch, but Alya walks away.

Chat looks up as she approaches, and a look of relief washes through his face. The flickering pawprint on his ring tells Alya all she needs to know. She tucks her phone away.

“Go,” Alya tells him. “I got this.”

Her hands replace Chat’s in tugging the shock blanket further over the former akuma’s shoulders. _Jean_ , she remembers. Not the Magician of Misfortune, but Jean.

“Alya, right?” Jean asks, and Alya starts at the recognition. “You were Lady Wifi.”

Her mouth twists at the reminder. “Yeah, I guess I was. I don’t really remember anything that happened when I was her though.”

“I don’t remember anything either,” Jean admits. “It was like… like I blacked out.”

“Then like waking up,” Alya finishes softly. She sits down next to him on the edge of the ambulance. “Are you ok?”

A pause answers her, and while she usually impatiently wrests for an answer or a response, she understands, and she waits.

“I think so,” Jean finally answers, his voice quiet. “I think I will be. I wasn’t so scared, when I woke up, y’know? Chat was there, and Ladybug called the ambulance over. It’s hard to be afraid, when you’re not alone.”

“Yeah,” Alya says, feeling the weight of his words settle over her shoulders. “I know what you mean.”

There aren’t any cameras, any theatrics, any dazzling displays of power or magic. There aren’t even any superheroes- but here, tucked away from the crowd and sitting on the floor of an ambulance van, Alya finds the point.

It drapes over her like a blanket, warming her long after the reporters have dispersed, after Jean’s gone home, after the ambulance takes off, and she’s the only one left. She fishes the phone from her pocket and rewatches her footage, remembering. 

The sound of someone walking up to her draws her attention, and it’s like déjà vu as Alya looks up from the frozen image of Ladybug releasing the white butterfly from her yoyo, to Ladybug walking towards her now. The iconic black-spotted red suit makes her statuesque, otherworldly, but the kindness in her smile makes her human.

“Thank you,” Ladybug says. “For being there for Jean. Chat and I try to help them after, but sometimes we don’t have time.”

There is something surreal about being thanked by one of your heroes. Alya smiles and shakes her head, because even if she can’t swing from rooftops or purify evil, she can wrap a blanket around someone’s shoulders and sit with them until the shaking stops. She can do this much.

“Can I ask _you_ something now?” Ladybug asks. She gestures to the phone in Alya’s hand, still frozen on the image of her and the butterfly. “Why is this so important to you?”

Jean’s words echo in Alya’s mind, and she finds her answer.

“What else would you do with hope?” Alya laughs. “Pass it on.”

 

* * *

 

The moment the cloud of magical ladybugs sweep the city clean, the crowd of reporters and spectators surge forward to Chat and Ladybug. The lure is undeniable, but even as Chat and Ladybug fearlessly step up to stem the daunting flow of cameras and mics, Alya quietly extracts herself and heads towards the ambulance that’s pulled over at the side of the road.

She catches Chat glancing at her as she makes her way over, and he throws her a wink in thanks. He slings an arm around Ladybug and hams it up for the cameras, drawing the crowd’s attention away from her, and away from the little boy huddled at the back of the ambulance.

Alya’s backpack slides off her shoulders and drops to the ground with a soft thud. As she crouches down before the boy and unzips the bag, she asks, “What’s your name?”

The boy sniffles and looks up at her, wide-eyed. The fear still lingers, but at the sight of her, there is a tentative hope, too. “Leo.” 

“Hey Leo,” Alya says softly. The blanket between her hands gently opens up like a breath, like wings. “Don't be afraid. I'm here to help.”

**Author's Note:**

> The **[Up to the Test Zine](https://ml-disaster-relief-zine.tumblr.com/)** is still **ONGOING!!!** Go check it out- it is JAM PACKED with fabulous stories, dazzling art, and stunning cosplays, all done to aid victims of the many devastating disasters that happened all around the world, from earthquakes to hurricanes, from forest fires to mudslides. Check the tumblr out and help out however much you can, because every little bit helps :) 
> 
> I'm super, super honoured to be a part of such an incredible endeavour with so many amazingly talented artists, writers, and cosplayers- and contributions from Thomas Astruc and the official ML team themselves! Thank you again, to [littleblackchat](http://littleblackchat.tumblr.com/) and [hchano](http://hchano.tumblr.com/), for your incredible efforts! Special shoutout to [powerdragonmoon](https://powerdragonmoon.tumblr.com/) for her organization and encouragement in helping with the zine! 
> 
> (Cross posted to [tumblr](http://matchaball.tumblr.com/post/170177432174/find-me-unafraid)!)


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